This weekend it was freezing!  The zoo was actually closed today and I was not able to interact with any guests.  However there was still a lot of really important work to be done.  At the zoo the zookeepers do a lot of work to make sure the animals are safe and warm, however they can always use more help in making sure all the animals are safe in dangerous weather like today.

      I was able to help many of the keepers today by working to shovel out the walkways between enclosures and buildings and making sure to throw down a lot of salt so the keepers don't slip.  In the winter some of the buildings can't have running water inside and the keepers need to carry heavy 5 gallon buckets filled with water to these buildings.  Keeping the sidewalks clear of ice helps to keep them safe so that they can take care of the animals.

    The keepers were really thankful for all of the work I did today to help them and they told me that by doing this work it allowed them to spend extra time with the animals since they didn't have to worry about shoveling the sidewalks.  Even though it was really cold today I am happy that my time was used to keep the animals and the other workers safe.

    I spent this Thursday working as a cite volunteer at the Milwaukee County Zoo.  Today I was stationed in the Children's Zoo area and it is by far one of my favorite locations to work.  I spent the day teaching little kids about what animals do to survive the winter in Wisconsin.  The kids I spoke to were especially interested to find out that Winter our Woodchuck builds a nest around November and rarely comes out of it for the rest of the winter, they couldn't imagine sleeping for so many months!!  I always feel so great after teaching someone a new fact about an animal or the world we live in, especially if they have never had the chance to see some animals like our Woodchuck, Red-Tailed Hawk or our Fox Snake. 
   I know that this interaction is so important for the zoo because it makes sure that our guests and visitors get to learn something new that they may not have before and that is incredibly important, because the one of the main purposes of zoos is to educate people and help them develop an interest about animals and the environment.